Author(s): Bertrand Richaud; Jeroen Van Dalen; Daniel Tsegai

Linked Author(s):

Keywords: Drought; Early warning system; Remote sensing; Monitoring

Abstract: Drought is a natural hazard that develops slowly and can be monitored using near real-time remote sensing information such as precipitation, temperature, soil moisture content, or vegetation cover. Monitoring the changes of these parameters by using dedicated indices and indicators is critical to timely and efficiently trigger/activate the appropriate actions at the impacted location to mitigate the devastating effect of the drought. Drought monitoring systems are able to show the current state of a drought hazard and how it develops over time. In some situations, it is also possible to anticipate the climate conditions with seasonal forecasts based on the sea surface temperatures. Facing the growing sense of urgency for some countries to be equipped with such systems, the UNCCD launched an interactive Drought Toolbox in September 2019 that serves as a platform to provide drought stakeholders with easy access to tools, case studies and other resources. The overall goal is to support member states in the implementation of national drought plans to boost the resilience of people and ecosystems against droughts. To bridge the hazard detection with the action to be taken, the toolbox is built around the three pillars of the drought risk management, and it includes the tools for monitoring and early warning (Pillar 1), vulnerability assessment options (Pillar 2) and risk mitigation tools (Pillar 3). This paper focuses on pillar 1: Drought early Warning and monitoring tool. The tool has been developed in partnership with UNEP-DHI and provides access to near real-time freely available data for drought monitoring and forecasting. The web-based tool aims at providing access to a wide range of datasets and drought indicators and indices to all member states. It provides access to precipitation, soil moisture and vegetation datasets as well as derived indices and indicators. The tool gives spatial and temporal information about the drought hazard that is currently evolving in the countries. In addition, it allows the user to revisit past events and thus better understand how the drought events unfolded and could have been anticipated. This global drought early warning and monitoring system is a powerful tool to raise awareness for policy makers and water managers about the importance of implementing better and more robust tools at a national and regional levels.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3850/IAHR-39WC2521711920221913

Year: 2022